This chapter reminds us of the covenant between God and His people – a covenant that we have broken. We, like ancient Judeans, have disobeyed God’s requirements for us (we have sinned) and we need to be restored into right relationship with God (through Jesus’ redeeming blood).
“And the Lord said to me, ‘Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ” (v6-8)
God persistently encourages us to obey Him. Yet, all of us disobey, at least once in a while, because of our stubborn and sinful hearts (the fleshly default). Thankfully, God promises to help us with this:
” ‘And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.’ ” (Eze 36:26-27)
We need new, purified, cleansed, and renewed hearts (soft ‘hearts of flesh’) that are not full of evil and stubbornness (hard ‘hearts of stone’), so we can obey God more consistently. Of course, only God can give us these new hearts, and we must invite Him to renew us. This renewal is a life-long process, however, we can rest assured that we have been saved by Jesus’ redeeming blood, no matter where we find ourselves in the process of renewal.
Father God, our Creator and Gracious Lord, You have forgiven us greatly. Jesus, Your sacrifice covers a multitude of sins and shortcomings. Holy Spirit, You continually guide us in the Father’s ways. May humble our hearts regularly, and seek the renewal only available through You O Lord, so our obedience would be more consistent and our witness for Jesus would be more visible. May we praise Your holy and awesome name, with every word and action, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training